Which World Showcase film is your favorite?
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Located at the very back of the France pavilion is a theatre that houses what I feel is the very best film attraction to be found in Epcot. Impressions de France is an 18 minute journey through the beautiful countrysides and towns of France backed by gorgeous classical music that is sure to make anyone want to visit for themselves. Such parts of the country as Normandy, Paris, Cannes, Cognac, and many more are shown and it gives a great view of all that France has to offer. Although it is not a CircleVision 360 film like the ones found in Canada and China, this film can still hold its own in the realm of World Showcase attractions. The music is almost haunting at times and the scenes are nothing short of breathtaking which makes this film my absolute favorite and a must see for your vacation. It’s tucked away to the back of the pavilion and can almost be mistaken for another shop or restaurant so if you haven’t experienced this film before, make sure you explore France a little more carefully on your next visit.
Which World Showcase film is your favorite?
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It's Friday and you know what that means? Time to give some shout-outs to the awesome Disney blogs and websites out there that caught my eye (and stomach) this week! As always, the amount of great content out there is just insane, but I think I narrowed it down to some pretty great topics.
***When visiting Walt Disney World, have you ever thought about spending an entire day away from the parks? Chip and Company gives us plenty of ideas on what to do for a Disney Park-Free day! I would have to say resort hopping would be my favorite. ***How did I not know that there were Jack Skellington Cake Pops at Walt Disney World? The folks over at Eating WDW clued me in to their existence so I am making a note to visit Candy Cauldron on our next trip. ***Do you love Joe Rohde? Then how about sending him a birthday gift? My friends over at Jambo Everyone have all the information on how you can help in the conservation of snow leopards as well as make Mr. Rohde very happy on his birthday! ***I've discovered an awesome new site thanks to a recent follow on Twitter. Kingdom Fix takes old Disney photos and beautifully restores them! A favorite of mine this week was of Disneyland's opening day procession in 1955. Just amazing! ***OK it's time to get crafty! I was amazed by this beautiful DIY recreation of the Tangled Tower from Rachel at This Happy Place Blog! I might just have to try this! ***I focus on food a lot around here so naturally I was ecstatic to read this amazing dining review of the Yachtsman Steakhouse on the Disney Food Blog. It not only has awesome reviews and information on the entire experience, it is complete with pictures which I love when reading a food review. ***OMG! Rebecca at Disney With Me keeps blowing me away with her blog posts lately. She continues to think of interesting topics to write about and makes me go, "why didn't I think of that?" This week she features the "Top 5 Forgotten Disney Princesses." Tiger Lily anyone???? I mean seriously!!!! Why are you still here????? GO......READ.......NOW! Mel Blanc who is best known for voicing the popular Warner Brothers characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, and many others was originally cast to voice the character of Gideon in Pinocchio. After recording much of the dialogue for this character, Walt Disney decided that the character of Gideon should be mute. The recordings of Blanc's dialogue were all cut except for one small hiccup while Gideon and J. Worthington Foulfellow are inside the Red Lobster Tavern. This would be the only time that Mel Blanc worked on a Disney film until 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit where he would reprise his role as some of the popular Warner Brothers characters. Sadly he passed away a year after this film was released. Today's Tiggerific Tuesday Trivia comes from my favorite Disney full length animated film of all time, The Jungle Book. Winifred the elephant, the wife of Colonel Hathi, is the only female animal in the film to have a speaking role. Voiced by Verna Felton, the character of Winifred was Felton's last film role before her death in 1966. She was 76 years old at her death and passed away exactly one day before Walt Disney on December 14, 1966. Her first role in a full length animated film was also an elephant character. She voiced the Elephant Matriarch in Dumbo. There are several famous mice that can be found throughout the classic animated Disney films and shorts. However, this week we are featuring one of the lessor known mice in a full length animated feature that is often overlooked. The Aristocats debuted on December 24th, 1970 and was the first animated feature to be made by the Disney studios after Walt Disney’s death. It is in this film that we find Roquefort, the polite and loyal house-mouse who lives in Madame Bonfamille’s chateau. Unlike the cat and mouse fights we see in other well known Disney classics such as Cinderella, Roquefort and the house cats are great friends. In fact, the kittens love Roquefort so much that they even share their food with him. It is on one unfortunate afternoon that Edgar, the house butler, drugs the food that is meant for Duchess and the kittens but in the process he drugs Roquefort as well. Edgar knows that Madame Bonfamille will leave her entire estate to the cats so he decides to take them to the countryside and leave them alone so they can never find their way back. Roquefort is left at the mansion alone until he awakes to find that Duchess and the kittens are missing. He searches frantically for them and is filled with great sadness that he may never see his beloved friends again. Near the end of the story, Duchess and the kittens finally make their way back to Madame Bonfamille’s with a little help from Thomas O’Malley, an alley cat they meet along the way. Roquefort hears the cats coming and realizes that Edgar is going to catch them again. He tries to warn them but it is too late and Edgar snatches them up once again in a sack. Roquefort runs to find O’Malley and is instructed to go fetch Scat Cat and his gang of alley cats. It is at this moment that we truly see Roquefort’s bravery as he has never met a gang of alley cats before and will certainly meet his death if he fails to convince them he is a friend of O’Malley and Duchess. With Roquefort’s help, the alley cats reach the house and help O’Malley save Duchess and the kittens from Edgar. He is truly a hero despite how small he might be. Film: The Aristocats Voice Actor: Sterling Holloway (1905-1992) Also voiced Winnie the Pooh, Kaa, Chesire Cat, and several other Disney characters Animators: Hal King, Fred Hellmich, Eric Larson Songs: Everybody Wants to be a Cat Character Traits: Polite, punctual, brave, resourceful, loyal Animal: Mouse Home: Madame Bonfamille’s Chateau Appearance: Tiny, red coat and hat Famous Quote: "Did somebody say cheese?" Images © Disney Although J. Worthington Foulfellow may not be known as one of Disney’s most notable villains, his role in leading Pinocchio down the path of temptation is not one to be overlooked. Also known as “Honest John," (although he is anything but honest) we first meet the greedy Foulfellow with his sidekick Gideon on the first day that Pinocchio ventures out in the world to go to school. Using his devious charms to tempt the trusting puppet, he promises Pinocchio stardom on Stromboli’s stage and lures him away from going to school. Little does Pinocchio know that he is actually being sold to the puppeteer by Foulfellow and will be forced to live a life of slavery. One would think that Pinocchio would have learned his lesson when it comes to dealing with “Honest John." Unfortunately they meet again and this time the deceitful fox lures Pinocchio to the Coachman’s Pleasure Island in return for payment from the Coachman. Pleasure Island, although fun and exciting at first, turns out to be a horrible place where little orphan boys are transformed into donkeys for the Coachman’s profit. We do not learn the fate of J. Worthington Foulfellow and Gideon in the movie but deleted scenes suggest that they were caught by the police when trying to scheme Pinocchio for a third time. Film: Pinocchio - released February 7, 1940 Television Appearances: House of Mouse Park Attractions: Pinocchio’s Daring Journey - DLR Voice Actor: Walter Catlett Animators: Norman Ferguson, Hugh Fraser, John Lounsberry Songs: Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor’s Life for Me) Character Traits: Greedy, devious, charming Animal: Fox Sidekick: Gideon, the cat Occupation: Con-man, henchman Famous Quote: “If we play our cards right we’ll be on Easy Street, or my name isn’t Honest John." Fate: Not shown Images © Disney Disney’s version of the Mad Hatter from Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice in Wonderland, was somewhat different then what was found in the original story. For the first time in Disney history, the characters of the Mad Hatter and the March Hare were modeled largely around their voice actor. The Mad Hatter appears as a hyperactive old man with a largely comical voice. The mannerisms of Ed Wynn, who voiced the Mad Hatter, show through in the animation sequences and the script. Much of the tea party scene in Alice in Wonderland was ad-libbed by Wynn and Walt Disney decided to use these improv's rather then the carefully written script. We first meet the Mad Hatter and the March Hare when Alice stumbles upon the “Un-birthday" party that they are having for each other. At first they are very inviting and Alice feels quite at home but she soon discovers that they are offering her tea but she never has a chance to drink it. They constantly ask her to get up from the table and move seats and they ask her riddles that they won’t let her answer. She finally discovers that they are both simply mad! It is at this time that the White Rabbit shows up and Alice continues on her way to follow him. Both characters appear later in the film when the Queen of Hearts calls them to testify at Alice’s trial. They are of no help to Alice except that they calm down the Queen when she gets very angry by throwing her an “un-birthday" party. Film: Alice in Wonderland Television or Other Appearances: Bonkers, House of Mouse, Kingdom Hearts Park Attractions: Alice in Wonderland (DLR), Mad Tea Party (DLR, WDW), Mad Hatter Teacups (HKDL, DLP), Alice's Curious Labyrinth (DLP), Alice's Tea Party (TDR) Voice Actor: Ed Wynn (1951 film), Corey Burton (current) Animators: Ward Kimball Songs: The Unbirthday Song Home: Wonderland Character Traits: Child-like, fun, annoying, mad Appearance: Short, old, gray hair, large nose Sidekicks: The March Hare, Dormouse Famous Quote: "Mustard?!?! Don’t let’s be silly!" Fate: No longer exists when Alice wakes up Images © Disney |
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